


Hell Week

by bloodyfandom



Category: NCIS
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-21 05:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/896088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyfandom/pseuds/bloodyfandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I think it's a thing,” Abby smiles, “NCIS' hell week.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hell Week

**Author's Note:**

> I'm aware the grammar of sign language is different so that's not supposed to be a direct translation for anyone who DOES know how to sign who might be reading. I don't actually know any sign myself except Thank You and Dickhead.

Her first week in NCIS was hell. Sadly not like the club Hell that she frequented, where she could dance and maybe find somebody cute to take home and tie up in her coffin.  
  
No, it was the bad kind of hell where she had to smile and try not to kill anyone because they were all looking her over critically, _judging_ her because she looked different. No one smiled at her nicely or said thank you when she did something spectacularly amazing.  
  
Director Morrow was nice enough but he didn't really stick up for her either. He assured her that the way she dressed wasn't an issue for him, her skill was and her skill was exceptional but when other people made comments he never stopped them. He told her it would die down soon enough and that if she just kept doing a good job people would come around.  
  
So Abby kept doing a good job – not that she'd ever intended to stop.  
  
Then this kinda cute older guy came in, scowling – which was the man's default expression – and he slapped some evidence down on her counter.  
  
“Need this A-SAP, Sciuto.”  
  
“You and everybody else,” she'd snapped back.  
  
“Murder case.”  
  
“You and half of everybody else.”  
  
Gibbs, that was his name. He glared at her harder and Abby put her hands on her hips and then signed _“dick-head”_ at him.  
  
For a second she seriously thought he had swallowed his tongue or something until he'd started rapidly signing at her.  
  
 _“You know more than curse words, little girl?”_  
  
Abby blinked at him, _“Yeah, my parents are deaf.”_  
  
 _“My mother was too.”_  
  
That had made them both smile and suddenly she had a friend.  
  
 _“Call me Abby,”_ she'd said, finger-spelling her name and then showing him her personal name sign.  
  
He'd spelled out his name, Leroy, and shown her his own personal name sign though he'd asked her not to call him that when she spoke out-loud.  
  
“It's Gibbs,” he'd said, his voice warm and deep.  
  
“Ok.”  
  
Things got easier for her after that.   
  
At first it kind of puzzled her how quickly people started showing her respect until she overheard Gibbs giving one of the other lead agents an earful over a disparaging comment the man had made about Abby's clothes. She'd smiled to herself and when Gibbs had come to see her that day she'd kissed his cheek, smiling broadly. He'd blushed, though she'd never tell anybody else that, _ever_. After that though she found herself relaxing more and her natural, happy side came out which people instantly warmed to. Though Gibbs would always be her favourite, hands down.  
  
\--  
  
Gibbs had just gotten his own team when Abby had started working at NCIS and he was still picking out his agents. His temper didn't help him with that. Stan had been a probationary agent on Gibbs' team when Gibbs' old boss had retired and Gibbs had been promoted. He stuck around, naturally, but finding someone else to round out the team had been difficult. Ultimately they'd ended up with a sour-faced, former FBI agent named Vivian Blackadder. She never laughed at anything, Abby thought with a frown, but she also wasn't intimidated by Gibbs and that was pretty impressive in and of itself.  
  
Vivian – do _not_ call her 'Viv' – seemed amused by Abby though. She turned out to be a fan of the horror genre which boggled Abby's mind a little because she seemed so...vanilla. And bland. Like somebody who only watched documentaries and the kind of standard, mindless crap you'd find highly recommended by the reviewers in the Washington Post. To find out that Vivian's favourite movie of all time was The Shining was sort of weird but ultimately kind of awesome. They never became friends but they always found common ground in their love of horror films.  
  
Stan was a really laid-back guy, unflappable and easy-going. He'd been in the Navy until an injury had gotten him medically discharged. He would wink at Abby and roll his eyes at her behind Gibbs' back when the other man got riled up.  
  
But then Stan decided to retire after a really bad case that wrecked his arm and Gibbs was looking for another team member again.  
  
Vivian was on loan to another team who had needed some extra help when one of their cases blew up – twelve victims and possibly a thirteenth person's life in the balance.  
  
So Gibbs was sent off to Baltimore to cooperate with the local PD on a murder case that involved a dead Marine.  
  
When he came back he had a new probationary agent in tow. Tony was all slick smiles and charm.  
  
Abby absolutely hated him.  
  
Mostly she hated him because of the way Gibbs would smile at Tony when Tony wasn't looking. It was amused and kind of fond, like the way he smiled at her all the time and she didn't _want_ to share Gibbs. _She_ was his favourite, damnit!  
  
So when Tony came down she gave him the cold shoulder, she let him take the wrong results by 'mistake' – something that Gibbs had reamed him out for because you “always verify, DiNozzo!” - and she absolutely never, ever smiled at him.  
  
At first Gibbs seems to find her obvious dislike of Tony amusing but eventually it starts to worry him.  
  
 _“He's got potential.”_  
  
 _“That's nice for him,”_ she'd snapped back.  
  
Tony had looked back and forth between them with confusion as they signed but hadn't said anything.  
  
The next time he comes down for evidence he signs “thank you” and Abby thaws a little.  
  
“Did Gibbs teach you that?”  
  
“No, I looked it up,” Tony says, some of the bravado slipping.  
  
She makes a face and then shrugs.  
  
“If you really want me to like you then you'll come clubbing with me Friday.”  
  
Tony grins broadly, a real grin not the slimy one he uses when he's trying to win people over and Abby feels her knees go a little weak.  
  
“I've been uh...kind of bored actually. I don't know anybody in DC.”  
  
“Well...I can't promise you'll like my friends but they'll _probably_ like you.”  
  
“I'm sure I'll love them,” Tony assures her, seeming eager.  
  
When he's not trying so hard he's actually really sweet and cute, Abby thinks.  
  
 _“He's kind of insecure,”_ she says to Gibbs the next time she sees him.  
  
 _“I noticed.”_  
  
 _“Ok...don't be too hard on him.”_  
  
Later Tony confides to her that his first week was absolute hell.  
  
“I think going to the club with you that Friday probably kept me from quitting.”  
  
“I think it's a thing,” Abby smiles, “NCIS' hell week.”


End file.
